The Instillation
by fayfairyelf
Summary: How long has it been, since Okabe Rintaro had disappeared? It must've been several long months. It was crazy to believe that such an important personality in her life had suddenly vanished. Yet still, there was nothing she could do about it. Until she suddenly caught of the phantom of a man, that looked like him, yet was not...


As Maho patiently stared up into the vibrant blue sky, she couldn't help but let the bottled up sadness get the best of her.

She just knew Okabe Rintaro for a few months, yet on those days, those weeks, he had really grown on to her.

But now he was gone.

He just disappeared without any parting words, not telling a single soul of his whereabouts, not even Amadeus, the person - or not - he was closest to.

"Umm, Miss? We have some bad news", said the police officer in front of her. In truth, Maho had been sitting in a police station, staring up into the sky through a windowed roof that didn't seem as if it had been cleaned any while ago.

The clear blue had almost tricked her into misshearing the friendly police officer in front of her that wore a gentle, yet partially sad smile. The woman was beautiful, her light brown hair dazzlingly long, curling slightly, while her radiant blue eyes, as blue as the ocean or the sky right now, seemed to look straight into her soul.

Not only did she look very intelligent and down to earth, but her smile was like that of an angel and warmed Maho's iced heart that she'd been keeping away from everybody.

These last months had been very rough.

After the officer noticed she had gotten Maho's attention, her smile faded a little bit as she crouched down to be on eye level with the person in front of her.

In a way, it was kind of a rude gesture, since it pointed out how small Maho was, especially since she was sitting down, yet it was done kindly, purely in a manner of politeness.

"I'm sorry to tell you that we couldn't find anything on Okabe Rintaro-san. Our teams are giving up the search, as he either left the country or he's...". The woman stopped herself, before speaking out the unthinkable.

Before long, she smiled apologetically and bowed once, as she turned around and made her way to leave.

The numbness Maho was experiencing was almost suffocating. She had expected to her that exact answer. Even though this was no surprise, it felt like a Götterdämmerung: the end of the world.

It anyway couldn't be true that Okabe had died. It was only 2011 and he was fated to die in 24 years from now, allowing him immortality for the time being. It simply wasn't possible that Okabe had died! And yet a small part in Maho connected the dots.

The days before Okabe disappeared, nothing was wrong at all. He perhaps even seemed extra happy. Those were signs for suicide. But that wouldn't bring anything, now would it? Convergence wouldn't allow it. Maybe he left the country, leaving his dark past behind and living his future life ignorant to the world war. It certainly was a possibility.

Moreover, it didn't seem to negate any of his morals. He was a pretty cold person.

However, Maho had some hope that he wouldn't just leave without any goodbyes. He wouldn't do that to Shiina Mayuri, his childhood friend. For that he loved her too much.

So the only real possibility was that he was kidnapped for some reason and was not to be found in Japan.

Just that was enough to cause Maho's entire world to shatter.

He probably was getting tortured by some random people who felt a bit sadistic, but because he can't die he's a witness, therefore they need to keep him locked up. That ansatz didn't even seem very unrealistic. Yet they had no chances whatsoever finding him.

Maho stood up from the bench and looked around the foyer of the police station. In a way, working as a police man or woman was a pretty sad job. They were fighting the disappointments of society. Most of the people probably already lost hope in humanity. It was understandable, though.

As a neuroscientist, Maho knew how humans' brains work, she knew that memories were an important play in defining a person, but what she didn't exactly know is how people react to specific traumatic events in their life time. It depended both on their personality and their past memories. It seemed like a paradox and a paradox was something that humans couldn't comprehend.

That being said, she couldn't put herself in the mind of Okabe, and moreover, she couldn't know what he was going on in his mind. Perhaps the happiness she experienced that radiated off of him was just fake and a facade.

However, it was unexplainable why he would suddenly start acting extra joyful. As joyful as someone like him could be.

This was getting hopeless.

If the police couldn't find him, what made it possible that Maho could? Had she been doing detective work for more than half of her life? Probably the detectives neither, but they still had so much more experience with that sort of stuff.

In the end, Maho couldn't do anything. Okabe Rintaro was 'dead', nowhere to be found and she had to accept that.

Of course it was just her luck that she lost two dear friends only half a year apart. Wait, what was she even talking about?

She heaved an exhausted sigh, before mechanically starting to walk out of the police station. She couldn't keep her mind from racing.

If he truly was dead, did that mean they branched off the Beta Attractor field? Imagining that wasn't even that hard. The chances were high for that to happen. His absence meant a lot.

Of course, Maho couldn't know what it would cause. According to Suzuha, Okabe didn't really do anything in the future. So if he hypothetically died earlier, which shouldn't be possible, it shouldn't cause such a big Divergence, correct?

The answer was no.

In this world, everything happened because of causality. The reason why Okabe died, or rather would die, exactly on that specific date in the year 2025, was because there was a reason. For some reason, he was fated to die on that date and there's no way around it.

In that moment, Maho bit her lip. Wouldn't that mean that Steins;Gate is impossible?

No, it must be possible! There's a reason for the saying 'The exception defines the rule'.

Either way, Steins;Gate has to exist, for one simple reason: How did the current attractor fields even develop, if the points of Convergence are not changeable? Which meant, that if they found Steins;Gate, it would probably become it's own attractor field.

That aside, it was certainly possible that Okabe had died an early death, but if he did, they weren't in the Beta attractor field anymore.

Maho didn't know if that was good or not.

Whichever it was, the future was still a war zone, proof of that was Suzuha's presence.

Just as she finished her train of thought, her phone rang, making her aware of her surroundings again. Maho, too exhausted to speak, just accepted the call and put the phone to her ear, without saying a word.

"Hello? Maho-tan?", she heard Hashida's familiar voice ring into her ear as she sighed a little.

If he called, it meant he was curious about the search for Okabe, most probably. Which meant Maho had to break the bad news to him over telephone and not face to face - she wasn't sure if she was happy about that or felt a little guilty.

"Yes, it's me. What's up", Maho answered and automatically frowned. Not like Hashida could see it, though she was sure he heard it from her tone.

She'd rather seem like a schmuck, then actually show how sad she was about. It was also less embarrassing than just blatantly confessing you're sad that a person may or may not have died that you only knew for a month. It was illogical that you'd even feel something for them!

At Maho's lab for example, if one of her fellow colleagues would suddenly die, Kurisu bring the exception, she would only attend their funeral and maybe feel a little let down.

It was similiar with Okabe actually. He was just testing the Amadeus system and was not even a working colleague. And yet, Maho mourned over him about as much as with Kurisu.

What was actually wrong with her?!

"How did it go? Any news on Okarin's whereabouts?", Hashida asked as Maho noticed that his voice was raspier than usual.

Perhaps asking that was a challenge for him as well. Or that was what Maho guessed, according to her own feelings.

"Sadly, not. And they're going to stop...", she answered, wanting to slap herself for her poor expression of her news.

In a way, she wouldn't be able to say that they think Okabe is dead, so she'd rather seen like an idiot. Though fo course, no one would think that of her. It was more like her personal opinion of herself.

She also didn't want to hurt Hashida's feelings, even though he is a merciless pervert. However, he was really close to Okabe and didn't deserve to experience his 'death'. Nobody should have to go through the phases of grief. Sadly, it was inevitable, unless you were the one that'd die...

"Hashida-san?", Maho asked after a longer silence came from the other side of the phone.

He was being too quiet that she had started to worry. She was sure she heard a little sniff from the other side of the phone, though it wasn't sure if it came from Hashida or not. Though that wouldn't be likely. It sounded way to feminine to come from a big man like him.

"I'm still here. I just told Suzuha and I'll call Mayushii later", he responded, just enforcing Maho's theory that the sniffle came from somebody else, such as Suzuha.

"I understand. I'll come to the lab to talk later, okay?", she spoke and instinctively smiled.

It probably was a very crooked smile, but she felt like she had needed to get her happiness hormones working again, to avoid crying.

Maho heard an 'Mh', before the line was cut and she was exposed to the noise of Akihabara again.

The many people made her nervous, especially since she didn't want to get asked 'Where her Mommy' was. In that moment her height did not benefit her. All the surrounding humans were so tall in comparison to her, and they were Japanese, which meant they were generally smaller than the average American.

And yet, they still towered over her. Of course, Maho's attitude compensated for her missing height, but it certainly still bothered.

But suddenly, Maho hit something hard and was momentarily stunned.

"O-oh, sorry", she stated with a wry smile, before glancing up to the person she ran in to.

The person, obviously a he, wore light brown, slightly on the beige side, pants, a white shirt and a thin blue jacket, which was none logical with the heat of the summer. His face, it was in some way familiar. The man had a rather long face, a beginning of a beard lining his chin. The black hair on his head messily swept-back, while his hazel eyes seemed lifeless, as if no light reflected off of them.

After a moment in which they both locked eyes, he just kept on walking speedily.

First then did Maho realize who that person was. She would have screamed at herself in frustration if she hadn't quickly turned on her heels and started running after the person.

"Okabe-san!", she yelled, which was barely over the default pedestrian noises. She was so sure that it was him: Okabe Rintaro.

However, Maho couldn't find him anymore. She ran forwards for multiple minutes, but still didn't find him.

Was it her imagination?

No, she was certain that she bumped into a person, proof was the throbbing on her forehead. Perhaps she just imagined it was Okabe and it was actually another person? That was not very unlikely.

Not sure what to do, since Maho was already out of breath, she did the first thing that came to mind. She pulled out her phone and started walking to the lab, once again.

During her power walking, she put the phone to her ear and patiently waited for Hashida to pick up. Instead, somebody else picked up.

"Hello?", said a feminine voice. At first, Maho was so surprised that she didn't even realize that it was Suzuha talking. She really hadn't expected such a high voice to respond.

"It's me, Hiyajo. I... I-I just saw Okabe-san", she explained and cringed.

Never ever would she be the one to call and break the news. Perhaps she should've just busted into the lab and yelled it then and there. It surely would've been more effective and less awkward.

Or so Maho believed.

"Are you serious?!", Suzuha asked in a very loud, barely under a scream.

If it had not been for the on edge situation Maho currently had been in, she probably would've kindly - or not so kindly - asked for the girl on the other side of line to not shout. However, she didn't have the time to speak any of this sort.

"I'll be at the lab in five!". Then, she cut the line and put her phone back into her pocket.

She only needed to turn a few times, then she'd arrive at the lonely rented apartment, often referred to as the lab, at which Amane Suzuha, a sixteen year old girl from the future, was staying at, under care of her three year older father Hashida Itaru.

Some may have said that Hashida was a 'disgusting pervert' for even spending so much time with that beautiful young woman and letting off pervy remarks - it was obvious that those sayings were deserved - but he still did his job and cared enough to pay the rent for the lab after Okabe had disappeared. Even though his daughter Suzuha often forced him to interact with his future wife and work on the time machine, he did not always do as she said, earning a few scares already.

While Hashida is very easy going, pretty harmless and maybe a bit lazy, Suzuha is the opposite. She had always been a hard worker and was a dangerous and strong woman.

That was what made that pair so unique and probably why they got along so well.

Just as Maho arrived at the lab, she heard her phone ring again.

That was a bit odd when you thought about it. Neither Hashida nor Suzuha should have been calling her right now, especially since she said she'd be at the lab in a few minutes.

But however weird that might had been, Maho still took out her phone and answered the call.

"Maho-senpai!", sounded the pained voice on the other side of the line.

She had expected anybody else but her. Amadeus had shut down half a year ago with the disappearance of Okabe Rintaro and Alexis Leskinen, so Kurisu calling was an utter shock.

"Kurisu, what are you-". But Maho didn't have a chance to continue talking.

Her voice disappeared the second she understood Amadeus Kurisu's words.

After that the line was forcefully cut by Kurisu and Maho was left behind, in a state of shock, not believing the words she heard.

So she was right!

Immediately afterwards she started running up the stairs to the lab, before bursting in and banging the door behind her.

The situation was tense for Maho, but the second she laid eyes on the insides of the lab, she saw Hashida laid back at his computer and Suzuha calmly reading a magazine.

But didn't she just call Suzuha?

"Why so dramatic, Maho-tan", Daru stated while browsing something.

He didn't seem very interested in Maho, since he didn't even look her way. Suzuha was the same.

"B-but... I just called!", she questioned in a very loud voice that some may have called a yell.

Of course Maho would never admit that she lost her cool and yelled.

The situation was just too surreal. Not only had she been told by the police that they couldn't find Okabe, but many minutes later she bumped into him not very far away from the police station. After that Kurisu called her, to just further enforce her thoughts.

However ludicrous this seemed - the coincidences of coincidences - she was sure to have called Hashida in all this mess.

"Yeah", he replied, giving no care to Maho's on edge behavior.

Even though she was mainly focused on her rage towards the cold act of Hashida, out of the corner of her eyes, she swore to see Suzuha glare at him.

"But-".

It was too much.

She couldn't continue speaking and just fell silent, not being able to deal with Hashida right now.

Maho knew she had no right to be mad at him, yet she couldn't help the hostility she felt towards him.

From what she understood, Suzuha obviously told him, but for some reason, he didn't believe her.

With those thoughts, Maho silently walked over to the green couch and let herself down, next to Suzuha. Her thoughts were racing again, causing her breathing to speed up and her surroundings to start to fade away.

"I swear... I saw him...", Maho uttered and scrunched her face up in agony.

After first getting told by a police officer that Okabe had in fact been dead, just to find him again, get told that he was actually in Akihabara, but then that getting disregarded made her so sad that even her heart pained.

Without even noticing it, tears started to drizzle out of her eyes and flow down her face, before landing and wetting her dress shirt.

Maho felt a gentle hand stroke her back, as she started sobbing and let the bottled up sadness and desperation get the best of her. The tears just wouldn't stop flowing.

And it wouldn't stop there.

After that she legitimately cried a five year old and started screaming. These last months she'd always been angry at Okabe for disappearing on them.

However, now Maho only felt pure sadness - all her anger faded away.

Was she advancing in the phases of grief, finally?

It was time for that already a while ago, but she had still had the hope that they'd find Okabe. Now, it was hopeless. If the police failed to find him, what made it so likely that she'd find him so easily?

Maho had just imagined it. She was sure that that's what Hashida and Suzuha were thinking as well.

A fool, she was such a fool for thinking that was Okabe! There was no way that was him!

Realizing that, Maho's cries stopped as she once again silently stared at her lap.

She felt so numb. She just wanted to disappear, get swallowed by the earth and not be seen anymore.

Suddenly Hashida jumped off his chair and stared at his computer monitor with a dumbfounded expression. The same moment, Suzuha shot up and ran to his side hastily.

"Did you find him?!", she asked.

But Hashida didn't have to answer.

The second Suzuha laid eyes on the monitor, her eyes widened, while Hashida just nodded.

Who did they find?

"Are you sure that's uncle Okarin?", Suzuha questioned, moving her head closer to the screen.

At that, Maho's eyes widened.

Did she really just ask about Okabe? Was Hashida actually looking for him, utilizing the surveillance cameras, and not browsing on this so called @ channel?

In this moment, Maho felt really dumb and was ashamed at expecting Hashida to not believe him. Maybe he was even a bit hurt at that gesture.

"I'm sure it's him", Hashida stated, before turning around and smiling at Maho.

She couldn't believe it.

Okabe was actually still alive. Everything else didn't matter to her. The whole point was that he wasn't dead.

There was still hope!

Maho stood up and practically ran to the monitor.

Yes, it was the same person she had run in to on the way from the police station. Same clothes, same looks, same lifeless eyes.

However, there still was no explanation to why he disappeared in the first place, and then suddenly reappeared. Moreover, why Amadeus Kurisu knew his whereabouts.

"Brainwashing".

The words Kurisu had said somehow made sense.

And yet they didn't.

If Kurisu knew that, it was only logical that somebody got to Amadeus. The only ones with those rights were Maho herself and the professor.

Did the professor have to do with Okabe's disappearance?

They did disappear at the same time. But the question was, if somebody kidnapped both, or if professor was behind this.

"But why is he just strolling around town like nothing happened?", Hashida enquired and looked closer at the screen.

Maho and Suzuha exchanged glances, before they said, in unison, "He was brainwashed".

While Hashida's eyes widened, Suzuha looked at Maho with a confused expression, probably wondering how she knew that.

"How do you know that's it's brainwashing? Isn't that just fiction?!", he asked and stared at Suzuha.

However, she just shook her head.

"It's not impossible. While in the Alpha attractor field, scientists actually created little chips they connected to the brains, in the Beta attractor field, they alter memories of the person", she explained, before sighing.

Altering memories?

Could it be that in the future, they use the theory of Amadeus?!

They could use it for military purposes, such as the perfect soldier.

"So if Okarin is brainwashed, what can we do against it?", Hashida asked, totally interrupting Maho's thoughts, before Suzuha held her chin in thought.

"We should try and find him. Then, I could try to get the truth out of him, or something like that", she answered, yet uncertainty lined her facial expression.

But would that really work?

It made no sense to try and catch him, if his memories of what happened were erased.

Even if they found out, what then?

Seeming to read Maho's mind, Hashida nodded.

"Then we can send a message to the past".

Another thing that wouldn't work. If they sent a d-mail, SERN would catch on and they'd go straight to the Alpha world line.

"But you can't send a-".

"We'll send something, that I've been working on in the past. A d-Rine", he interrupted Maho and smirked.

A DeLorean Rine message?

"And it works?", she asked with widened eyes, not being able to suppress the surprise.

At least from Maho's point of view there hadn't been a shift in the world line.

However, she doesn't have Reading Steiner, unlike Okabe. Perhaps Hashida had sent messages into the past.

Was that maybe the reason for this unexpected event?

"I made sure to send messages to myself only, and ones that wouldn't change anything", he reasoned, but still got glared at by both Maho and Suzuha.

Doing that was irrational and irresponsible! What if something bad had happened!

Something worse than their current situation!

"Then shouldn't we get going, before he disappears. Kurisu said that he wouldn't stay here for long", Maho explained, not realizing that she had blurted out sensitive information that she had originally wanted to keep to herself.

However, she seemed lucky enough that Suzuha and Hashida were too busy trying to figure out their next move, instead of intently listening to Maho's exact words.

That was good - she didn't want to have to tell them about what she found out about Kagari, through Amadeus - for she herself wasn't sure as well, if that was true.

It was absurd, thinking that one could have such well done plastic surgery to look exactly like somebody else!

"Okay, then let's do that", Suzuha spoke, before turning to Maho with a serious face.

Maho just nodded.

The plan was a rather sketchy one, since it involved Maho using her strength.

Of course, her non-existent strength, even though that may have been a slight exaggeration.

"Do you see the target, Hashida-san?", she questioned whilst running along a not very lit alley way, holding a communication device from Suzuha to her mouth to talk to either Hashida or Suzuha.

"I do. I'm currently watching it from the shadows", Suzuha replied in place of Hashida.

But that was no surprise.

Of all of the people active in this mission, Suzuha was the most fit one. Maho herself, though, was already starting to slow down in tempo.

"I'm about to get to the rendezvous point", Hashida explained in between pants.

He clearly was also having a hard time keeping up with Suzuha.

The rendezvous point was a triple forking in an alley, to which it seemed like Okabe was going to. Even if he hadn't been going there, Suzuha and Hashida were suppose to stir him in that direction.

Then, once they got him backed up in a corner, Maho would try and communicate, to see what would happen.

The obvious weakness or loop hole in the plan was Maho, though. If she didn't stand her guard, everything could go down and Okabe could escape. So she tried to save her energy for when things went down.

"I'm at the point. Suzuha, where are you?!", Hashida exclaimed through the device, before it went silent.

Everything was silent.

Suddenly, Maho felt uneasy.

She was about to get to the rendezvous point herself and the fact that probably Suzuha just arrived there, with Okabe, as well, seemed ridiculous.

This was the point, at which she question if their plan was a good idea.

For all they knew, Okabe could've been trained, and ended them in a blink of an eye.

However, she didn't have a choice.

She couldn't let her friends down.

One more turn, and Maho would be there. Just a few more meters, then she'd see the man that disappeared half a year ago, and that she technically saw less than an hour ago.

The moments that passed - she had wished they would have gone by slower.

The second Maho turned around the corner, something, a proclamation, sounded through her communication device.

But she couldn't process it quick enough, as she ran straight into a person, for the second time today.

However, this time the person immediately continued running.

Maho, being to stunned to understand what was going on, just stayed and stared on the floor.

"Maho! He's getting away!", she heard Suzuha in person as she ran past her, Hashida a few meters behind her.

Had Maho been to slow?

If she had just been a few seconds earlier, would they have caught Okabe?

Maho stood up and began running towards the hasty footsteps. They had failed their plan, because of her!

"Huh, what the hell is going on here?", a familiar deep voice suddenly sounded, before a sound of somebody falling to the ground filled the alleyways.

All the footsteps, Maho's excluded, stopped.

First when she got to the scene, did she understand what went down.

Tenouji Yuugo, the landlord of the lab, was there for some reason, holding down some person, presumably Okabe, while Hashida and Suzuha tried to explain what happened.

Or so it seemed.

Wasn't it a bit too convenient that he was here?

"I was looking for a friend of mine that lives around here, and then I heard the ruckus", Tenouji explained while putting pressure on the struggling body on the ground.

Just that scene alone caused Maho to break on the inside.

Did Okabe not recognize them? Was his brainwashing that bad?

"Tenouji Yuugo. You have past experience with secret services, don't you?", Suzuha suddenly asked the man, putting him on the spot.

That's right, she had mentioned that once.

Actually, Maho had heard about it when she was eavesdropping on a conversation Suzuha was having with Okabe that revolved around SERN, Kiryuu Moeka and Tenouji Yuugo. For some reason those three names had something in common, and that was the so called Rounders.

"Would you help us save this poor man for a better world?".

Tenouji snorted a laugh.

"You mean that this idiot here changes the fate of the world? The guy who called himself some mad scientist?", he questioned and looked Suzuha in the eye.

For some reason he called Okabe an idiot.

Maho didn't understand why though.

Was he talking about how he acted before?

She had heard about this 'Hououin Kyoma' in the past from Mayuri and Hashida. However, she could never understand how the Okabe she knew could ever act so immature and plainly stupid.

She knew a totally different Okabe Rintaro.

"That idiot found out your secret identity", Suzuha countered, before cringing.

She obviously didn't like calling her own uncle an idiot, but she was forced to role with it.

"Fine! But if Nae gets involved, I'm ditching all of you", Tenouji said, before restraining Okabe, or rather knocking him out.

Even though Maho didn't understand, how Nae could get involved in such a situation, unless whoever was behind Okabe's disappearance found them, she decided to comply and watch over the little girl while Suzuha and Tenouji sorted out the rest.

Hashida anyway didn't find it a good idea for anybody too close to him to see what happens.

Whatever the both would do, it wouldn't be pretty, naturally.

"Maho-chan?", Nae asked while pulling on my arm.

Maho gritted her teeth at the very informal way of addressing her.

Of course, Nae was only a child, but she did refer to the rest as 'sister', 'brother' or uncle.

However Maho, who was even older than Hashida by a lot, was addressed like how a little girl would address her friend.

"Yes, Nae?", she replied with an upset smile.

She couldn't get furious at the kid though. It wasn't her fault that Maho looked like a child.

"Where's Da-".

But Nae couldn't finish speaking.

A phone ring cut her off.

Once Maho found her phone, she accepted the call and put it to her ear, immediately hearing Hashida's voice.

"Maho-tan!", he said hastily and seemed very on edge.

Had they already found out the truth?

"What is it, Hashida-san?", Maho questioned while giving Nae an apologetic smile.

She'd have to wait for a bit, since this was rather important.

"We've found the cause of Okarin's abduction out!".

Maho was all ears and a bit too curious than she'd ever admit, to hear the truth.

"The world line was changed!", he explained, "Strategic Focus had gotten their hands on the time machine and used that to their advantage. There they forcefully took Okarin in custody, before brainwashing him and making him their puppet. In the meanwhile they know everything that happened or will happen on this, and other world lines!".

That was bad news.

And Strategic Focus? They were the culprit?

"But how did they find out about Okabe-san in the first place?", Maho asked, as that made no sense.

There was no way they could trace the time machine back to Okabe!

Someone must've leaked information to StratFor, which meant they had a mole.

"Okarin himself told them...".

Those words were shocking.

"Alexis Leskinen was the one who abducted Okarin. He was also the one Okarin told about his Reading Steiner, when the encephalitis case turned up".

The words Hashida spoke made sense, grammatically.

But logically, Maho couldn't comprehend. So she was right about the professor. He was behind Okabe's disappearance.

Maho stayed silent.

She couldn't believe that the professor, child-ish yet charismatic friend that she so trusted, betrayed her.

"We're planning on sending a d-rine to make sure that Okarin doesn't tell anything to StratFor", he spoke and sounded very disappointed.

Perhaps that was, because Okabe told Leskinen, basically a stranger, instead of his right hand man, Hashida.

"But Reading Steiner...".

"We got that covered. If he's unconscious, then Reading Steiner won't work", Hashida confessed while chuckling at the end.

But now came the hard part.

Neither of the people would remember this world line. Everything that happened here would be undone. All the experience, all the pain and sorrow, but also the bonding would be forgotten, not even for Okabe to remember.

However, this world was bad as it is.

Rather it never existed, then living in a reality, in which Okabe was a spy to the enemy.

"Send it. Don't hesitate", Maho stated with a serious expression, "If you hesistate now, Okabe-san will be a slave to StratFor until he dies".

And yet there was hesitation.

She would've done the same.

"Don't you want to see Okarin first...?", Hashida asked with a pained voice.

While it was cruel to put the responsibility on him, there was no other way. Part of the conditions Tenouji put on them, was that Maho had to get out of town to keep Nae safe.

"I can't. Besides... I'll see him... Soon enough... Not like I'll know, though", Maho answered, before laughing bitterly at the end.

She could already see Nae's watery eyes in the corner of her vision.

Suddenly, she was sure to hear sobbing.

However, they came from the other side of the line.

This was it.

This was the path to Steins;Gate, right?

Or so Maho thought.

Soon, they'd have Okabe Rintaro back on track to save the world.

Out of the blue, Maho felt the urge to slap him.

"Okay. I'll go send it now... See you in a different world, I guess".

"Mmh!".

At that, the call ended and Maho was left with numbness.

"What's happening, Maho-chan?", Nae asked as her blue eyes stared into Maho's.

She shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's for the better. I'm sure of that".

With that thought, an earnumbing sound ringed in Maho's ears, causing her mind to go foggy.

She tried to remember.

To not forget.

However, mere seconds later, her thoughts revovled around something entirely different.

The pain throughout her mind, as she fell to the floor, screaming.


End file.
